


The Anatomy of a Perfect Relationship

by kookyberry



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:28:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21580594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kookyberry/pseuds/kookyberry
Summary: Yunho is searching for that perfect one!Edit: I have changed the story a little, please do re-read the two short chapters I have posted.
Relationships: Jung Yunho/Others, Jung Yunho/Shim Changmin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

Sitting across from the handsome gentleman with beautiful expressive eyes and an even more breathtaking smile, Yunho had an unnerving feeling that he had met this man before. It could be true; Seoul’s LGBTQ+ circle was small and everyone knew everybody. Yunho glanced at that ridiculously attractive face and knew he’d remember it had he come across him before, you did not just forget a face like that.

But he couldn’t shake off the feeling of familiarity as he took a bite of his tiramisu. It was both comforting and confusing because his usual first date defences were pretty useless right now. He was chattering like he’d met an old friend after a long while, flirting like he’d been with his date for ages. It felt like they had known each other for a long time; childhood friends growing into lovers with regular Friday night dates. 

He smiled to himself because Changmin- that was his date’s name- seemed made for him. He realised he hadn’t been paying attention to his date when Changmin looked at him with worried eyes and called his name several times before Yunho collected his thoughts and responded with a “Yes?”

“Is everything okay? You seem to be drifting off.” Changmin asked anxiously as though he was scared to offend him.

“Nothing serious; I feel tired after my shift” answered Yunho with a cute smile. He could see Changmin wanted to make a good first impression on him.

“I can’t even think how hard you must work; I never had the will nor the brains to be a nurse.” Came back the clever quip.

“Changmin- you’re a doctor!” said Yunho with an amused and disbelieving smile.

“Yeah, but everyone knows nurses do all the work!” – shrugged off Changmin.

The delivery was so effortless that Yunho was sure Changmin actually believed it and it wasn’t an attempt to sweet talk to get into his pants. Anyone who knew Yunho knew that the fastest way to endear themselves to the man was to acknowledge his hard work and he especially loved it when the doctors treated the nurses as their equal. 

So, what was Yunho to do? They paid the bill fast, Yunho did not even finish his tiramisu nor did he get it packed for take-away; tiramisu was the last thing on his mind looking at those strawberry coloured lips of his date. They hailed a taxi even faster. The ride to Yunho’s place seemed to go on forever – something about time, relativity and Einstein but Changmin had already started kissing him and thoughts of old white men and physics? Or was it chemistry? couldn’t really sustain in his head. One thing was for sure - Changmin was a sinful kisser and they had an amazing chemistry. 

Yunho suspected their uber driver was going to leave them a bad rating – something that will inevitably come to irk Yunho and his perfect rating in the long run but at this moment, he just didn’t care. Maybe the extra wons for the impromptu show he got would placate him. It didn’t take long for them to lose their clothes and start on the sofa but a gentle reminder from Changmin not to bang his head on the table jettisoned them towards the direction of the bedroom.

Yunho woke up with a grin on his face the next day. Changmin had left for his early morning shift in the emergency ward an hour back but not before making some kimchi jiggae and rice for him for breakfast and a gentle kiss promising to meet up again. Changmin might fuck him with an urgency of only two lovers left alive, but everything else about the man was soft. He suspected that the other man made a grand feast over leftover milk and stale bread in his haste if the empty carton in the bin was anything to go by. It just made him feel warmer on the inside. Who even does that for their first date? Yunho felt hopeful about Changmin, a first in sometime.

Changmin had just started his residency at Seoul General Hospital where Yunho had been a nurse for four years. It took him only a week to ask him out and get him in bed. Yunho was apprehensive at first - it had only been six months since he broke off with Hojun and he still wasn’t comfortable being vulnerable; but Changmin came into his life like rains on a particularly hot day - familiar, relieving and unseasonal.

He was worried that he had a type – after all, his dating history only had good looking doctors in it. Even if he thought of asking someone out – a guy who seemed like he was made for him would turn up. It would be a few good months and even better sex before it inevitably ended up with him initiating the break up and the guy quietly disappearing. He suspected the high turnover rate for doctors at SGH was partly due to him.

His last long-term relationship had ended when he wasn’t ready to get married. Hojun had looked at him with tears in his eyes; he looked like he wanted to say something but he clutched the customised Daniel K ring and left without another look at him. Yunho had regretted his actions the very next day, just because he didn’t want to get married (not that it was legal anyway), didn’t mean he wanted their relationship to end. Hojun had been his constant emotional guide when Yunho was at his lowest. 

Yunho did dream of all the domesticity marriage had to offer; he wanted to cook for his partner, he wanted to cuddle with him after a long day at work, he wanted to fight over wet towels and the mud prints lining the hallway after a rainy day but a little part of him was apprehensive about his parents. They had only just started to build an uneasy communication and a marriage would send them scampering back in their homophobic little burrows. Yunho was hoping to coax them out of it, but it would take time. Hojun knew all this, but he insisted on taking their relationship to the next level while Yunho resisted the because they were already at that stage. He did not need the rings or a sham of a wedding ceremony to convince him otherwise.

Nevertheless, it seemed as if Hojun had never existed when he finally made up the courage to bang at his door after a week. The neighbours told him with a sad look that the suave man had moved out five days back and they had no knowledge as to where. They also added their daughter had been inconsolable since she had no one to look at anymore. Yunho gave them a polite smile in answer. Just like that, the only trace of Yunho’s most serious relationship had been the yelling in the paediatrics department when they found out they were short one doctor.

Countless times did he imagine how their last conversation would have gone had he been less angry with him for not believing in their relationship.

“It’s not like I don’t want to marry you, but my parents will get a shock as we have just started talking. Please wait for a while and besides, we already act like we are married, we can just move in soon.”

“You’re right and take your time. I do want us married but it will be even better if we have our families backing us.”

They would have kissed, Yunho would have worn the ring as a sign of being engaged and changed fingers when he went to meet his parents, it would have gone on for another year before they finally would have broken down to his parents. They might have fought again, or they would have accepted Hojun but now Yunho will never know.

He was devastated after the man disappeared. He spent a lot of time probing their mutual friends (which Yunho realised were all his friends who welcomed Hojun in their fold), waiting at their usual haunts but Hojun didn’t want to be found and it remained so. Six months of moping about – he looked like a gaunt ghost and his friends intervened. Then he met Changmin. The caring Changmin who was looking for a relationship but hadn’t thought anything about getting married, the observant Changmin who knew what to order for Yunho and the attractive Changmin who in less than a week felt like his missing half.

The fact that Changmin had gently touched the spot he had hit on the edge of the table the last time he had sex with Hojun was forgotten in the recesses of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been editing it to make it flow better, added a few details, changed a few details, please re-read it. I will have it completed by tonight. :-)
> 
> Comments are love!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW//Homophobia ahead!

The next nine months with Changmin had been wonderful; he was an attentive boyfriend and an even more attentive lover. He took care of all of Yunho’s romantic fantasies with an indulgent smile on his face. He never let the other get angry with him; and Changmin’s behaviour would always be impeccable. He wasn’t walking on egg shells around Yunho; just that the other came to know Yunho so well during their time together that Yunho’s likes and dislikes became something of an instinct.

The vulnerability of being an open book for someone other than himself amazed Yunho and he was pleased to find it did not frighten him, because it was Changmin. He remembered his first relationship which ended in a homophobic disaster. Siwon used to go to the same church as him; he was the same aged friend Yunho had in Gwangju and admittedly a frequent visitor in Yunho’s ‘special’ dreams. He’d not known what it meant; he was still trying to perform overly romantic gestures for his then girlfriend before he realised that the warm, fluttery feeling he felt for Siwon was something he was expected to feel for his girlfriend.

It was Siwon who initiated the kiss after the Sunday mass. It took Yunho by surprise but a pleasant one. They had spent that rainy morning huddled in Yunho’s bed with his mother thinking both god’s children were trading their favourite bible verses back and forth. They were.

"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." Chapter 20 verse 13

But Siwon didn’t really seem to care and Yunho was too caught up in the searing kiss to think how he was kissing his best friend and a boy at that. The forbidden nature of it all made it hotter and they were both left gasping for air by the end of it. 

From then on; Siwon became a regular presence in his life and Yunho felt the thrill and vulnerability of being in a relationship. It was his first gay relationship and he sometimes got confused between the boundary of being friends or being boyfriends. It wasn’t his fault, first relationships are usually fumbling blocks, a cautionary tale. And did Yunho learn never, ever to kiss where he could be easily found. In retrospect, kissing in the grotto where the snacks table was arranged was a scream to be found out. It became a big scandal in the community and while their parents were more or less only furious, the reaction of the rest of the society was less than pleasant. They soon became pariahs of the community.

Siwon handled it pretty well at first and Yunho left for college soon after. They tried the long distance. The video chat shenanigans on the grainy resolution weren’t as hot as they’d imagined, but it worked. They spent the weekends together, mostly in Yunho’s dorm because their community was still boycotting them. His parents too started to become more hostile, and one Christmas holiday; he finally realised the stress he had been under when they were presented with a crowdfunded ticket to church camp which Yunho knew was actually a front for conversion therapy.

He ran all the way to Siwon’s house in the freezing night, he needed to feel closer to the man, the sex was the first time for both of them, but somewhere both knew it was it. By morning, Yunho had left for his university and he heard later that Siwon had moved away too. It was probably for the best.

Yunho was now a grown up and he resolved not to make the same mistakes with Changmin. He felt he had learnt from these failed relationships to become a dependable partner for Changmin. It sounded selfish, it sounded narcissistic, but being with Changmin was of utmost importance to Yunho.

“What are you thinking about?”- Changmin asked as he looked up from the book he was currently reading- something about class and urban spaces.

“I am thinking about how you seem like you want to kill me whenever I eat chicken from your plate but you never stop me” – Yunho knew it was through little things Changmin showed him he cared.

“Take care of your hand next time” – shot back Changmin with a glare but the threat was empty because his ears had turned red.

The next day at the hospital was a hectic one when Changmin lost his first patient. Ask anybody, that is a life-changing moment for a young doctor. Yunho knew he needed to be there for his man but he was pleasantly surprised to see him holding it up well. In fact, he was actually humming show tunes.

The kiss made him forget it was the same song Siwon used to hum when he was feeling sad, everyone has their coping mechanisms right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the interest. You guys have been kind!


	3. Chapter 3

A fox was following him. Its keen and bright eyes tracking his every movement. Yunho paused from hauling all those empty boxes he needed to pack his meagre possessions in, to think for a moment why a fox was even in such a densely populated neighbourhood in Seoul? He put a call to animal services and went on his merry way - nothing could spoil his mood - he was moving in with his boyfriend.

They had decided that since Changmin’s apartment was larger and nearer to the hospital (and cleaner but Changmin wasn’t about to say that), they’d move in there. Yunho looked at the mess in front of him and bit back a groan. Changmin was conspicuously absent even after repeated assurances of help had been thrown his way. As they say, never trust a man’s word post-sex, especially one so satisfactory. If it were up to Yunho, Changmin would have stayed with him the night too but his beeper had gone off just as they were about to go off to sleep and Changmin had to leave but not before showering Yunho with kisses; some of which had left a recognisable mark on Yunho’s skin.

With a huff he picked up his phone to call the man he called the love of his life (only in his head, he did not want Changmin to feel too pleased with himself), only for the call to go unanswered. He called multiple times but he always got the voicemail. It was unlike Changmin, normally he would keep Yunho updated about his every move. Yunho joked he wouldn’t need that tracking app that was so popular among couples because Changmin was a step ahead of it.

Before he could make another call, he spotted reddish brown fur in one of the empty boxes. He had no idea how that fox had followed him to his apartment but he wanted it out. He really did not want to take chances with a wild animal - especially one that looked so huge. Weren’t foxes supposed to be small?

But what happened next knocked him out for god knows how long. Yunho’s last memory is of thinking his head will surely meet the floor but the pain never came.

___________________________

Changmin was visibly panicking. His big reveal to his boyfriend hadn’t gone as planned. To be fair, there aren’t many ways to reveal to your significant other that you are a shapeshifter but Changmin thought that suddenly materialising into your current form from a fox would probably come under ‘10 bad ways to reveal to your non-shapeshifting boyfriend that you are a shapeshifter’. He at least got to Yunho before he could get a concussion. Now he was straddling his unconscious boyfriend’s face in his lap hoping he could wake up soon because he needed to explain, and he needed Yunho to understand. This was his last chance.

It had all started when he chanced upon a 13 year old Yunho at the Sunday Church in Gwangju. His family had just relocated because their ultra orthodox neighbour in Daegu had spotted Changmin mid-transformation. For their son’s safety, they decided to move away and as extra measures - Changmin was now pretending to be a greasy 13 year old Christian boy named Siwon. He was uncomfortable in his new skin but it was necessary. It won’t be just him who’d have to bear the brunt of society’s displeasure - he had a family to think about.  
However, all these thoughts flew out of his mind when a beautiful and lanky Yunho befriended him. Suddenly the Sunday mass was fun and Changmin could not keep a goofy smile off his face whenever he was with Yunho. Those extra bible sessions with Yunho turned even more fun when they finally started dating. Guess they should not have kissed in the grotto but Changmin had a whole two years less of worldly experience even if he was pretending otherwise.

When they were found to be in a relationship, his parents shielded the worst from him. So he could continue dating Yunho without knowing the stress his family was in. When Yunho came to break it off with him, he steeled his baby heart and did not chase after him. His family had to move again and he did not have the strength to continue chasing his first love. That was the first time Changmin ever cried.

As the countryside was rolling by - he remembered how they both had this fantasy of working in the same hospital as doctor and nurse - mainly Yunho’s kink but it gave Changmin a reason to continue. So began the series of Changmin dating-breaking up with Yunho and shapeshifting and repeating the cycle. They never got to that serious base of moving in together until Hojun happened.

When Changmin proposed and got rejected by Yunho, something in him broke for the first time. He had chased after him repeatedly, believing they were meant to be. They had promised each other a lifetime under the stars when they were 16 (Changmin was 14). For the first time he began to doubt himself. What if they were not meant to be. It took him sometime to collect himself and try again for the last time - but this time as himself - no lies, no shapeshifting, just the truth. But now Yunho was lying in his lap unconscious and Changmin was fretting. If they broke up this time too - Changmin did not know how he would go on. This is why he needed Yunho.

Changmin knew his love for Yunho was an obsession. He wasn’t stupid. But this was Yunho. He did not know how to be with anyone else.

_____________________

Yunho woke up to the smell of ramyeon. As his stomach growled for food, all the memories came flooding back to him.

“SHIM FUCKING CHANGMIN - EXPLAIN YOURSELF” - Bellowed Yunho but he got no answer. He got up to see a pot of hot noodles on his little dining table and a letter. He hurriedly read the contents and thanked god that he did not eat before reading it. He was sure he was going to puke. So in his whole life, he had basically dated one man. A man so persistent he kept coming back. Yunho slumped on the floor, this was all too much to take in. But a small part of him knew he needed to find Changmin. The man might be obsessed but Yunho needed him. If the hot steaming noodles were anything to go by, the man must be nearby. Just then the door opened to an anxious looking Changmin holding what seemed to be eggs, ham, milk and bread

“You had no food” - said Changmin nervously. Yunho kept staring at him and Changmin kept standing in the doorway stupidly. Neither knew what to do, neither wanted to leave. After an eternity Yunho slowly got up. He took the supplies off Changmin’s hand and safely put them away. One hand on the doorknob, the other reached out to him and yanked him into a hug, deftly closing the door behind him.

“I love you” - whispered Yunho. Had Changmin not had the hearing of a bat, he would not have caught it. It was all too much for him and for the second time in his life, he cried.

“You won’t leave?” - asked Changmin through sobs.

“I thought about it but you’ll just come back”, now even Yunho was getting teary eyed. The man he had come to love looked blurry but Yunho had never been so sure in his life and he knew since the age of 3 that he wanted to be a nurse.

Relationships aren’t perfect and need a lot of work from both parties. Yunho had made mistakes before but he had lucked out with a man who would go to lengths to let him correct those mistakes and missteps. He had learned from each of his relationships and he knew now it was leading up to this one. For Changmin it was a journey in accepting himself the way he was. He tried with countless facades but the one that stuck with Yunho was him as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! I am not happy with the flow of the chapter and the conclusion (I plan on being back to edit it so it reads better) but I needed to publish it before I get lazy again!


End file.
